The current red lantern, Alison Lifka, is due to leave Takotna at 10:50 this morning. It’s been a busy morning, with Michael Baker pulling out while Jeremy Keller came up behind him. After Jeremy parked for a bit Victoria Hardwick pulled in and left after going through her drop bags and,as soon as she left, …
Anja Radano came through Takotna just before midnight, she seems to be fairly happy and enjoying her time on the trail. She stopped long enough to grab a bagged lunch and head towards Ophir. Blair Braverman pulled out of Takotna just after midnight, with the snow almost turning to rain in the wee hours here. …
It’s been a busy evening here in Takotna – lots of teams leaving and pulling through after taking their 24 hour rests. Blair Braverman pulled in for a short rest at 10pm breaking the trend of mushers who just pulled through after coming off their 24s in McGrath. Shortly after she pulled in, …
Niklas Wikstrand came through at 7:43pm, signing right in and out. Dogs looked good, still screaming to go, they’re Pete Kaiser’s B team and gaining some valuable experience out here on the trail. After Niklas left, the volunteers came back inside to eat a bit more, as well as help one of our race …
Emily Maxwell reports she’s having a good time out on the trail. She only met her dogs a few weeks ago, but says she’s already built a great relationship with them. They’re traveling well together, and she’s impressed that the weather hasn’t fazed the young dogs at all.
Jessica Klejka made a short stop in Takotna, long enough to offer her dogs a snack, grab a couple things from her drop bag, and snag a bagged lunch from the wonderful folks in Takotna that love to feed the mushers. Her dog team was one of the strongest I’ve seen through the checkpoint. She …
Ed Hopkins’ team looked good leaving Takotna. It was obvious that his black leader was focused on Michelle Phillips (his partner, who was trying to hide from the dog), but they left the checkpoint looking beautiful! He’s definitely in contention for rookie of the year, but Richie Beattie is putting up a good challenge as …
Richie pulled through Takotna just after 10am this morning, after leaving McGrath and his 24 hour rest. He stopped just long enough to grab some gear from his drop bags, then headed off to Ophir. He told us he had planned to 24 in Takotna, but he had a slow run into McGrath and didn’t …
It’s lightly snowing in Takotna again this morning. Mushers have been pulling out all night coming off of their 24 hour rests and hitting the trail once again. Dogs have looked great pulling out of here, everybody’s been happy and ready to go! Now the real race begins, with the lead mushers all coming …
Martin Apayauq Reitan came into Takotna at 9:59 this evening, still cheery as ever! He reports he broke one of the stanchions on his sled, but he’s rigged it well enough that it should last the rest of the race. He’s still got my buddy Apok in lead (I handled for Martin at the ceremonial …
